Unexpected Surprises
by JeteThroughLife
Summary: TFA: Prowl was a 'Bot of secret. Not even the others knew of his past, nor his personal life. All of that changes when Prowl takes off out of the blue, Jazz following in his wake... When this is over, Optimus is going to have words with Sentinel. Bluestreak, Prowl, Jazz, & Gang
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Past - Half a vorn ago_

"_Do you _have _to go!" The youngster moaned. "I'm afraid I have to Bluestreak."_

_Bluestreak whimpered, pressing his face further into his brother's leg, "Bluestreak…" "I don't _want _you to go!" The youngling sobbed. "Hey," His brother bent down, looking him in the eye, "I won't be gone very long. The gang and I will only be working on 5 space bridges this trip." "And how long will that take?" "... Roughly around 4 deca-cycles."_

_Bluestreak proceeded to sob harder, tears streaking down his face. His brother sighed, picking him up and holding him close to his chest. Bluestreak wrapped his arms around his brother's neck, burying his face into it as well. The two stood there for several cycles while Blue's sobs died down, turning into mere hiccups. The aching in his brother's spark however, did not._

_Doing his best to hold himself together, for his brothers sake, he carried Bluestreak up the stairs to the second level of the small living space they owned. It was all they could afford after their creators death._

_He headed down the short hall, stopping just inside the door to Blue's room and set the youngling down on his feet. With a small sniff Blue began to collect what he wanted to bring while he stayed over at Hound's place, as he usually did while his brother was away. His brother helped him load a small case with datapads, a couple of toys, and a game that he had gotten for his fourth sparkday._

_With a sigh Bluestreak closed the lid, a sign he was done. His brother scooped up Blue in one hand and the luggage in the other. Heading down the stairs he only pause to lock the door on the way out._

_Despite being 7 __and a half_ _(Blue was very adamant about that) vorn old, Bluestreak was still very small for his age, an advantage for his brother as being closer to him kept Blue calmer._

"_I wish you didn't have to leave again." "It will be shorter than last time." His brother countered. All he got was a sigh. "Can't you get another job?" "I've been trying Blue." He sighed. They continued in silence for the rest of the trip down to the transport station._

"_Thank you again for allowing Bluestreak to stay." "Aw, it was no problem. The li'l guy's always been good, and it's only for a short while." Hound replied with a smile. "I still think it's too long." Grumbled the youngling, shifting on his feet._

_His brother knelt down in front of him, taking Blue's hands in his much larger ones. "Now I won't be gone very long." "That's what you always say." "Hound will take good care of you." "That too."There was silence as the two stared at each other. "Promise me…" Bluestreak started, pausing to take a deep breath to allow the words to come out, "Promise me that this will be the last. No more space bridges. No more trips away. No more not seeing you for solar-cycles on end. Promise me that when you come back you'll stay and it'll finally be _h-home _again!" _

_As much as he tried, at the end his voice quivered and he broke down, burying his face in his hands, and sobbed. "Oh Bluestreak." Blue felt himself being picked up, only vaguely aware of the sound of shifting feet as Hound began to feel as if he were invading on a private moment. "I promise sweetspark, this will be the last." _I won't let you go through this anymore. _he thought._

_He hugged Bluestreak tightly, holding him close to his spark. Kissing the top of his helm he set Blue back onto the ground. "You be good for Hound okay? No running off like last time." "I didn't run off…. I walked." Hound chuckled, placing a hand on Bluestreak's shoulder. "Goodbye Blue."_

_He started down the front steps when Blue called out, "WAIT!" He turned around as a small form crashed into his legs, wrapping his arms around them. "I'll miss you!" He knelt down again, "I'll miss you too." "It feels like I'm never going to see you again." "I promise, you will" "Promise?" "Promise." "Goodbye Prowl. I love you." "I love you too." Prowl smiled._

_And with that the ninja-bot transformed, heading off in the direction of the shuttle he was supposed to be on in less than 5 cycles (and Primus be damned if he had to listen to Bumblebee go on again about how the 'ninja' was always late). It took all of his will to deny his aching spark and not turn back._

* * *

"_**Warning: Planetary impact imminent."**_ _Teletran-1's voice was only just heard over the sound of the ship falling through the atmosphere. Optimus Prime came in looking worse for wear._

"_Everyone to the stasis pods!" There was urgency in his voice. The pods opened and the bots hurried over. Half way there Bumblebee turned and shouted back, "What about you!?" "Not until I've steered us clear of this populated sector!" Optimus shouted, grabbing hold of the manual override. The pods that the bots had gotten into closed, Bumblebee not taking his optics off of Optimus._

_Prowl's spark raced. Everything was moving too fast! One cycle they were finishing work on the last space bridge, preparing to head home. The next they stumble across the All Spark. _The _All Spark. At first he hadn't believed it, because really… who would? But Ratchet had insisted, and after watching it activate the space bridge sending them to who knows where, Prowl was convinced. Along with the Decepticon warship, Megatron himself, and the crash-in-progress onto an unknown planet, Prowl's head was spinning. How long would they be in stasis? When would help arrive? _Would _help arrive? Would they even survive?_

_A thought that had been pushed to the back of his mind since the start of the ordeal was shoved to the front with enough force to make him gasp and cause his optics to widen. _"Bluestreak." _Primus! He was suppose to be heading back. The last trip. The last space bridge. Prowl was suppose to be heading home. But now…. No! This couldn't be happening. Not now. Not when he was so close._

"_Bluestreak…" Prowl breathed._

"_What?" Bumblebee turned to the pod next to him, but the ninja-bot didn't answer._

_Optimus somehow was able to direct their shuttle to a large body of water before hurrying over the the stasis pods._

"_**Initiating emergency stasis management."**_

"No."

* * *

_He had known the second it had happened. He could feel it in his spark. Something was wrong. He had tried to brush it off._ Nothing is wrong. Prowl is okay. He'll come home. He promised.

_Hound could tell something was wrong, he just didn't know _what_. He had tried to distract Bluestreak with a game, but that hadn't worked. He had tried other games, several toys, datapads, even a short stroll… but nothing had worked. The youngling was still pouting, as silent as ever. Very unusual for Blue._

_It only got worse as the solar-cycle went on. And just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore, he got the call. A space bridge had exploded in the last known location that the shuttle had been in. They hadn't found any bodies yet, and were unable to determine if the debris from the site was from a vehicle, but it was clear enough. Prowl and the crew were gone. A freak accident. Typical in this line of work. That didn't stop the tears that flowed. The sorrow. The aching in his spark for someone who was never coming home. It wouldn't stop him from shutting down. Closing off everyone close. He was gone. His only family. They were all gone._

_Hound tried his best to comfort him._

_ But how can you heal a broken spark?_


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

_Present_

He curled in on himself further, trying his best to disappear completely. He choked back another sob as the tears continued to fall down his face. It wasn't fair. Who was this stranger, and what did he want with him? He was just a kid for Primus sakes! What would some bounty hunter want him for? He hadn't done anything wrong. And there was no reason that a bounty would be on _his_ head. Why did he have to lose everything all over again.

Bluestreak continued to cry. "It's n-not f-... f-fair!"

"Life 'aint fair kid."

Bluestreak lifted his head to glare at the white faced villain in front of him. "What do you want f-from me!" Bluestreak demanded, albeit shakily. The bounty hunter just laughed. "It's not what I want from you kid, but what you're gonna get for me." "I won't do _anything_ for you!" The bounty hunter just laughed again, "You don't have to do anything kid."

And with that he walked out, leaving Bluestreak alone in his cell.

Wherever this ship was going, it wasn't going to be good.

Unconsciously, Bluestreak reached out through his spark for his long lost brother. A habit he had picked up whenever he was sad or scared. It had been nearly a deca-cycle since the bounty hunter had grabbed him; and Blue was tired of being alone. Blue chastised himself for trying to reach Prowl. He was gone. He wasn't going to feel anything back when there was nothing there, right?

* * *

"It's my turn!"

"No It's mine!"

"Mine!"

"_Mine_!"

"_**Mine**_!"

Bumblebee and Sari glared at each other over the handheld gaming device, both growling like fighting cats.

"Ah, HA brother. I have been beating you!" "Aw, no fair brother." Jetstorm and Jetfire were on the gaming console after Bumblebee had introduced them to it. That had been 3 mega-cycles ago.

Bulkhead was off in the corner painting, Optimus was in an argument with Ratchet (and Ratchet was winning… as usual), and Prowl… he was doing his best to ignore them all. And the growing processor ache. With a sigh he headed over the the "kitchen". The area in the base where they stored their energon and the food for Sari. Grabbing a cube he took a swig from it while listening to the racket that the others were making from the other room. The fact that the door was closed did little to help the noise.

That's when it happened. Prowl felt a presence through his spark. He could feel fear, pain, and grief. So shocked was he from the emotions, let alone that they were coming through a spark-bond that he had thought was long gone, that he dropped the cube, letting it fall to the ground where it spilled it's contents onto the floor. The hand that had been holding the cube went to his spark, while the other grabbed a hold of the counter behind him to keep himself from falling over. Automatically, he sent out feelings of warmth, love, and hope, to try and calm the bot on the other side down. "_Bluestreak!?"_ Prowl felt more than heard the gasp. And just like that, it was gone.

Ratchet, having heard the clatter entered to see why Prowl of all bots had dropped something (not, however, before jabbing a servo into Optimus's chest with an ominous "We'll talk about this later."). He was startled to see Prowl clutching his spark and the counter behind him as if he was unsteady on his own feet, with a shocked look on his face and glazed optics. A cube of energon spilt on the floor.

"Prowl? Are you alright kid?" Ratchet asked placing a hand on Prowl's arm. Prowl jerked as if he had been electrocuted, staring at Ratchet as if he was surprised he was there. "N-no," was all he said before he hurried over to the to door and raced off, the sounds of transformation following in his wake.

_Hang on. Did Prowl just… __**stutter**__!?_ Ratchet thought to himself confused.

Optimus stuck his head into the room, looking like he was still slightly miffed, but his concern had proven more so. "Is everything alright in here Ratchet?" "No, Prime. Everything is not."

* * *

Taking off from the base, Prowl didn't even stop to project a holographic driver for the unsuspecting humans along the roads. He needed to get away to sort out his thoughts and feelings (which unlike some bots had suggested, *cough* Bumblebee *coughcough* he really _did_ have feelings).

Had that really been his little brother? He was supposed to be all the way back on Cybertron. Far too vast a distance to reach by spark-bond; and Prowl would know. He had tried countless times to reach Bluestreak through their bond the first several orbital-cycles that they were on Earth. Not once had it worked; not helping Prowl's grumpy attitude at all.

They others were oblivious, having not told them of his family or past. Countless times before the incident Prowl would come up with excuses as to why he was late, mainly when they were talking off for outer planetary work. The causeway was backed up (Bulkhead got through just fine). There was construction (Optimus was certain that construction had ceased in that sector). He'd had some problems with a back strut when he was transforming ("_Than Primus damn it Prowl, let me look at it!" "Um… no thank you Ratchet. It's fine now."_). Near the end, they had started getting suspicious. Bumblebee started asking questions about Prowls life. Optimus had assured Prowl that if he ever need someone to talk too, he was there. Ratchet had threatened to weld Prowl down to one of the medic berths, "'_Cause with you "complaining" _that _much, there has to be _something _wrong!"_ But they never figured it out.

And now Prowl wasn't sure he could leave them this time. He had thought about it in the past. But with Bluestreak's promise to keep, he had planned on telling them when they got back. He hadn't however planned on the All Spark messing things up.

Prowl sighed, accelerating and taking the on-ramp onto the highway. After a cycle or two he opened his .

":Jazz. It's Prowl.:"

::Oh, heyy Prowlers!::

":Jazz, don't call me that.:"

::Whatever you say Prowlie!::

":... I'm on my way over. I… need to talk to you about something.:"

::Sure thing. Uh… what are we talking about.::

":I'll explain when I get there.:"

::Okee dokee! I've got a report to fill out - fun right - so you might have to wait a bit.::

":That's fine.:"

::Okay! See you soon.::

The line went quiet.

_I hope I'm doing the right thing._

* * *

Bluestreak shivered. What the slag had just happened? Prowl was gone. There was _no one_ on the other side of the spark-bond for him to reach out to. So… What _was_ that, that he had felt less than a cycle ago? Maybe he had finally gone insane from the grief.

Bluestreak laughed bitterly at that (quietly though, so as not to attract attention from his captor). It was bound to happen eventually. His mind, to fill the void that had been there for half a vorn, had created a fake spark-bond response. It wasn't real. It couldn't have been.

Bluestreak's laugh turned into a sob.

_Prowl…. I miss you._

* * *

Jazz was just finishing up with his report when Prowl walked in, not bothering to knock. As usual. Jazz however didn't mind.

Jazz swiveled around in his chair, (his _special_ swivel chair no less; the one that Ratchet had given him slag for when he'd spun around in it one to many times while procrastinating, and Sentinel had to drag him into "Ye Ol' Hatchet's" medbay due to backed up tanks) and faced Prowl. "Hey man! So what was it ya wanted t' tell me?" Jazz smiled, and Prowl felt like things would be okay; Jazz had that effect on bots. "Not here. Somewhere more private." "Whatever ya say. Just give me a nano-cycle to hand this in t' Sentinel."

Prowl nodded, following Jazz down the halls of the ship. Jazz chatted as they walked through the ship, Prowl making small comments here and there, but otherwise not saying much. Jazz talked about nothing in particular; what was going on back on Cybertron from what they had heard, how Perceptor had nearly blown a fuse when he heard about how the Jettwins nearly got themselves squished when they had tried to copy the ninja-bots moves, to the latest low level cases he and Sentinel were working on. Prowl was only vaguely aware of what Jazz was saying. His mind was on Bluestreak, the most it had been since coming out of stasis. It was making his spark ache. Jazz's rambling wasn't helping either. He sounded _just_ like Blue.

"... nd so I was just sittin' in my office when Sentinel calls me down t' the lobby, somethin' 'bout some mech who was getting all worked up over a missin' kid. Sayin' that the Elite Guard had t' get involved. So I head down, and there's this green mech at the front desk practically _hysterical_, shoutin' 'bout how some _bounty hunter_ had nabbed his kid. Can you believe that?"

_That_ grabbed Prowls attention.

"Why would a _bounty hunter_ of all mechs want with some kid?"

"I dunno. Anyway, we had to call down a medic t' sedate him. Only he reacted with whatever it was they used. We had to rush him t' the medbay. He's been in induced stasis since, while we wait for his systems to recover. It's taking a surprisingly long while."

"What about the kid?"

"We weren't able to get enough info out'a the bot before he went into stasis. Don't worry though we're workin' on it"

"How long?"

"How long what?"

"How long has the kid been missing."

"Hmm… I'd say now… probably 'bout a deca-cycle by now. We dunno who he is, so we're havin' a hard time trackin' him down."

"A _deca-cycle_!" unbeknownst to Jazz, Prowl clenched his fists.

"Hey, chill man! We're workin' on it. Besides, it's not like he was nabbed by an _actual_ bounty hunter, right?"

Prowl was about to answer when they stepped onto the bridge. Sentinel Prime was in the middle of a conversation with another bot that was on the big comm. screen. Sentinel turned around at the sound of the door opening. "There you are Jazz. I've been you for ages!" "I didn't hear _anything_ sir." However, the smirk on Jazz's face begged to differ.

With a low growl Sentinel turned back to the screen. "This is Scrounge, from the missing persons department. He's here to update us on the missing persons case."

Jazz stood up taller, clearly interested. The datapad in his hand was discarded onto a nearby counter as he made his way over. "So what have you got fer us then?"

"Well," Scrounge started, "I was able to locate a security camera in the vicinity of the area where the child was abducted. I've smoothed it out as much as I can. It's not very good quality." With a few key taps a small box appeared over Scrounge's head. A video began to stream, moving quickly as it was fast forwarded.

"I apologize. I was unable to break the video up. This will take a couple cycles. However, I was able dig up some info on the mechs involved. The green mech in our medbay's designation is Hound. Apparently, although the kid isn't related to him, he has been in Hound's custody for some time since the disappearance of the child's guardian. The child doesn't appear to have any family online."

Prowl froze. _**WHAT!?**_

"Is that all?" Asked Sentinel, sounding rather bored with the whole affair.

"No, there's more! Here is where things get interesting!" Scounge exclaimed excitedly. This was the kind of case that he enjoyed working; one of twists and turns.

_As if things weren't _interesting _enough._ Prowl thought to himself.

"It turns out that the kid really _was_ kidnapped by a bounty hunter!" """**WHAT!"""**

_That_ sure got the Autobots attention. Just then, the video finally slowed, showing what had happened mid solar-cycle, nearly a deca-cycle ago.

The image was of a park of sorts. Benches were along the path, while protoforms played around in the wide open spaces. Then, from the bottom left corner of the screen, walking along the path, came a medium sized green mech; and holding his hand was a small silver form, barely up to the mech's waist.

_It can't be!_

"Is that a…" "... Sparkling!?" Jazz finished for Sentinel. "Close. That is a youngling. The medics that have watched this estimate that he is under 10 vorn." "He's rather short." Jazz stated.

The video played on. The green mech sat down on a bench, the youngling clinging to his leg. The mech ran a hand over the youth's helm, obviously talking to him, while pointing in the direction of a group of protoforms. Two of the protoforms appeared to have noticed the arrival of the two. They hurried over, one bouncing up and down in excitement, the other grabbing ahold of the youngling's arm. Dragging him away to play with them. The green mech sat back, watching them, with an arm draped over the back of the bench and one leg crossed over the other.

"They stay like that for a while, so I'll skip ahead to the abduction."

The video fast forwarded for a couple of seconds before once again slowing down. They youngling and protoforms played on, the green mech occupying himself with a datapad, glancing up now and then to keep an optic on his young charge. Suddenly there was a bright flash (and probably a **bang** if the video had sound) and smoke filled the park. The protoforms nearby darted away in panic, while those that were near where the youngling was playing disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The green mech shot up, datapad falling to the ground. He appeared to have shouted something - a name perhaps - before charging into the smoke. By that point, the smoke was looking more like a haze. Dark forms were visible as the ones inside panicked. The tallest, the green mech, looked around for the smallest, the youngling. Another, much taller form appeared out of the grey. The mech must not have seen whoever it was, as the taller form raised a fist and slammed it into the others helm. The green mech crumpled to the ground in a heap. Someone must have screamed, as the new figure turned to his left, while the other protoforms actions became more manic. The new mech found his target, picking up a small form with doorwings by the throat, who began to twist and squirm, clawing at the hand holding it. The stranger turned, disappearing into the smoke; but not before his hazy outline was visible. He was tall, with spikes and a hooked hand. As the smoke fully cleared, several mechs and femmes hurried over to the downed green mech, trying to help him up. The mech however was looking around frantically, yelling something. That caused the others to look around. One of the protoforms - the one who had been bouncing around earlier - broke down crying, pointing at the spot where the youngling was just seen. The video stopped.

Prowl's spark pulsed, beating hard enough he thought it would come out of his chest. He felt cold all over, unaware he had put his hand down on the counter to steady himself for the second time. Or just how pale he had become. _This can't be happening!_

"Wow." Was all Jazz said, breaking the silence. "What would a _bounty hunter_ want a youngling for though?" Sentinel asked the question they were all thinking.

"I uncovered a message that was circling around underground. There is a score of 100 thousand credits for anyone who can get their hands on a developing sparkling or youngling, and deliver them to the nearest Decepticon outpost." Scrounge typed some more on his console.

"The _Decepticons_ want a youngling? Why?" Sentinel asked.

"Beats me. We may be too late however. I found evidence of an unregistered departure about a nearly a deca-cycle ago, corresponding with the abduction. The ship left planetary orbit not long after that. We lost 'em."

Sentinel clenched his fists. Jazz throw his hands into the air. Prowl looked colder, and paler if that were possible.

Scrounge sighed, "We might be able to locate him in time if we knew who abducted him… or at least the kid's name. The file didn't give a designation, but we might be able to-"

"Bluestreak."

"What?" Jazz turned to face Prowl. He was alarmed to see how emotionally dark he looked, while at the sametime like he was about to fall over. _Prowl?_

"The child's name is Bluestreak."

"How did you know that?" Sentinel sounded genuinely surprised. Quite a feat on Prowl's part.

Scrounge on the other hand, was madly typing away. Within seconds a file was up on the screen, splitting it in half; Scrounge on the left, the file on the right.

The file showed the child's name - Bluestreak, like Prowl said - an image, and all of his medical information; including family relations. It was the image that surprised them, with the fact that - "There ain't a speck o' blue on him! Why's he called "Bluestreak"?" Jazz asked, stupefied.

The youngling was silver with red and black accents. His helm was silver and smooth, jutting out forward slightly at the sides of his face. He had bright red chevrons, silver doorwings, the largest darn optics, which were a bright blue. The rest of him was silver; except for his midsection and thighs, which were bright red; and his forearms, a single large stripe down the front of his chest running under his Autobot symbol, and a small collar around his neck, which were black.

Prowl turned from the screen, the coldness that had taken over turning into anger. He stormed from the room, transforming in the hall and taking off from the ship.

"Prowl!" Jazz called after him. _What is wrong with him?_

Just then Scrounge spoke up, "It appears that the last of his family, his older brother, went missing halve a vorn ago. Huh." "What's his brothers designation?" Asked Sentinel.

"Some bot by the name of Prowl. I'll see if I can bring up his file…"

Sentinel's jaw dropped, and Jazz felt a chill go up his back. _Oh slag._ Turning, Jazz ran after Prowl, transforming and speeding off.

Scrounge looked up from his typing to see two of the bots gone and Sentinel looking as if he had just told him that Megatron was his uncle. "What?"

* * *

After a while, the bounty hunter came back. He was holding a cube of energon; it was a strange colour, not one Bluestreak was use to.

"Here." The mech chucked the cube through the bars of the cell. Blue scrambled up to catch it before it got too jostled. He looked at it suspiciously. He took a whiff… it smelt funny too.

"It's not poisoned if thats what you think." The bounty hunter chuckled.

"Then why's it look funny?" Blue asked, genuinely curious. He got another chuckle.

"Probably 'cause it's not what you usually drink. However, it's all I have on hand. If you don't want it, it's not my problem." With that, he walked out.

Blue watched him leave before staring back at the cube he had been "handed". After a nano-cycle, he placed it in the corner before going and sitting in the opposite corner; he didn't chuck it for fear of it going off. He curled in on himself, trying to ignore his aching tanks. Blue felt tears come to his optics.

_When will this be over?_

* * *

"**PROWL! Wait up!**"

Prowl turned. Jazz was running after him, waving his arms in the air like he was trying to direct a plane. From the look on his face, Prowl guessed he had figured it out one way or another.

Prowl sighed, crossing his arms and tapping one foot on the dock.

"You can't stop me Jazz. I'm going to find him." "I never said I was stoppin' ya." Jazz looked dead serious, which surprised Prowl. "But we need a place t' start," Jazz thought for a moment, "And if we find the 'Cons, we can find your brother."

"Or, we could find the bounty hunter." "How are we suppose to know who the bounty hunter is? Or even where t' find him?" Jazz asked, scratching his head. Prowl smirked, "How many bounty hunters do we know with a hook for a hand." Jazz started to count on his fingers, "*sigh* Never mind."

"Prowl man, how do we even know your brother's on Earth." "Because… I felt him through our spark-bond not long before I came to see you." "Oh, well dat makes things easier - wait, _what!_"

"Why deliver a youngling to an outpost, when you can deliver it to Megatron himself. For that, it helps to know where Megatron is."

"So, you think that Lockdown guy has 'em?"

"I'm certain."

"They won't meet at the Decepticon base, no way Megs will let a _bounty hunter_ know where that is. They'll meet somewhere else… And I highly doubt that Megatron will show either. It'll most likely one o' his subordinates." Jazz said, holding his chin in thought.

Prowl looked out at the water. "To find the 'Con's we need help. I don't want to go to Optimus… Not yet."

"So, you're gonna try asking the _Dinobots_? Ya nuts?"

"I've helped them before."

Jazz sighed, looking across the waters to the island that was currently the home of the destructive trio.

_This day just keeps getting better 'n' better._


End file.
